The Not-So-Perfect Plan by Christina Matula

Author:Christina Matula
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Inkyard Press
Published: 2023-02-07T16:32:22+00:00

12

The day of the swim relay race has arrived. I sit down at the table to see that Dad has made a batch of his fluffy pancakes with extra bacon.

“I even made some maple butter,” he says as he dabs a spoonful onto the stack on my plate.

They taste sweet and wonderful, but I can’t eat more than a couple of bites.

“I’m too nervous to eat. Plus, I don’t want to have a stomach cramp,” I say.

“You’ll need the energy, honey.” Mom puts down her newspaper and places her hand over mine. “It’s a long swim. Are you sure you are up for it?”

I’m not really worried about the length. I know I can swim the distance, but will I be fast enough? This is the first of three events, followed by the Dragon Dash and the trail run. And all the times are cumulative, so every second counts. “Completely. Ready to win.”

My parents look at me with raised eyebrows. Before they can say, it should be about participating or winning isn’t everything, I add, “Just joking,” to preempt them.

Mom, Dad, and Millie come with me to the edge of the beach to find Rainbow. I spot her outside of the temple in front of the giant statue of Tin Hau, the goddess of the sea. She is said to protect sailors, fishermen, and hopefully swimmers. The statue’s white robes appear to be flowing and the patterns of the gold tiles glint in the sunshine, making her seem alive, ready to look out for us.

Rainbow already has her goggles around her neck and wetsuit on her legs with the top half hanging at the waist—she looks like she could be in one of those triathlon magazines. I suddenly feel like a complete amateur as I change into my borrowed wetsuit. How did I even think I could compete with the other kids? Many of them have raced before, either in the sea or on a school swim team. Rainbow needs to help me to pull the wetsuit on when it gets stuck on my legs—my hands are trembling too much. She zips me up and whispers into my ear, “It’s okay. You’ve got this.” I exhale deeply and try to push all my worries out of my body.

I pass our bags containing dry clothes and flip-flops to my parents.

“We’ll meet you girls at the finish line.” Dad dabs some sunscreen onto his neck.

“You’ve got your safety buoys, right?” Mom asks. We flash her our bright orange buoys that are attached to our waists. We even blow them up in front of her so she can relax a bit. “And there’s a boat bringing up the rear, right?”

“Don’t worry, Mrs. Li-Jones, there’s a boat at the back as well as the front and on both sides of the swim pack,” Rainbow says matter-of-factly, putting my mother at ease.

“Okay, off you go then girls,” she says, giving us each a hug. “Oh wait.” She grabs the sunscreen tube from Dad and dabs some on my nose “to protect from the sun.

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